Plans Advance for 'The Guildwood' at Eglinton and Kingston

A few months shy of two years has passed since Scollard Development Corporation first proposed their vision at 3655 Kingston Road in Scarborough. The proposal, dubbed TheGuildwood, envisioned a residential mid-rise building designed by Gabriel Bodor Architect, at the tail-end of Eglinton East at Kingston Road, on a site that's currently a car-wash. Since the October 2015 rezoning and Site Plan applications were handed to the City's Planning department, the project has undergone a series of reconfigurations as it enters its third submission.

Updated Site Plan rendering, southeast view, image via submission to the City of Toronto

The first design saw an 8-storey (114 ft) mid-rise with 112 residential condo units, which later saw an additional two storeys added to make 10 in a 2016 resubmission. Newly submitted for the third time, the new plan eliminates one floor, bringing the overall height to 9 storeys (120 ft). With a street frontage of 59 metres and a depth of 39 metres, the development has a FSI (Floor Space Index) of 2.91, and a total GFA (gross floor area) of 8,092 m². The number of residential units has decreased to 99.

The northwest view of The Guildwood, image via submission to the City of Toronto

The residential unit breakdown also features a slight change from the previous iterations, with 1 bachelor (406 ft²), 61 one-bedroom (593 ft²), and 37 two-bedroom (1,095 ft²) suites planned, and no three-or-more bedroom units. Underground, three levels of below-grade parking will provide 130 vehicular spaces, while 115 bicycle parking spaces will be situated throughout the underground levels, as well as the first floor. 3,419 ft² of indoor and 7,854 ft² of outdoor amenity space is also provided on the ninth level.

3D view looking south to the site, image via submission to the City of Toronto

While 9-storeys may not seem overly tall for many areas across the City, the project has been met with significant opposition. Just over a year ago, the Scarborough Village Community Associated (SVCA) took a stance on this project, stating that the development is too tall for the neighbourhood. While the association welcomes new development on the site, they feel the developers should comply with the site's current designation as Neighbourhood, which only allows no more than 4 storeys on the site. The new designation the applicant is seeking is Neighbourhood Apartments, which would allow Scollard to at least double the number of storeys.

3D view looking north to the site, image via submission to the City of Toronto

As currently stands, three sides of the development face the existing neighbourhood immediately to the south of the site, which concerns local residents. The plans, however, depict the massing of the building to be tallest along Kingston Rd, while it gradually decreases in height as it moves south, fitting into the 45 degree angular plane.

We will keep you up to date as more information regarding construction gets released. In the meantime, additional information and renderings can be found in the project's database file, linked below. Want to share your thoughts on the new redesign? Feel free to write a comment in the space provided below, or join in the ongoing conversation in the associated Forum thread.